Pumping Breast Milk Instead of BreastFeeding?

I did it for 4 months with my first and 3 months with my second. It is tiring but do-able. Good luck. I beat myself up for not BF directly then going to formula but "happy mom, happy child" I kept telling myself.

First of all - if it hurt when you tried to nurse your baby it sounds like something was wrong. It shouldn't hurt maybe there was a minor infection or something. At one point my baby (now 14) had thrust, a fungal infeciton in her mouth, that was passed to my nipple. Man, did that smart! We passed it back and orth to eachother. The pediatrician gave us some drops for her mouth, I had to clean my nipples well after nursing and it went away within a couple of days.

2nd, the pumping takes just as long as nursing, and nursing allows you to cuddle with your baby. If it works out well, nursing is such a wonderful time between mom & baby. Seek the advice of some women you know who nursed their babies. In olden days young moms didn't have lactation consultants, they were in a community of women, their mothers, sisters, friends, midwife helped them figure out how to do it. It's not natural at first - in fact it seems really odd the first couple of weeks. You have to handle your breast like a slab of beef or something. My aunt who was in her 60's at the time was most helpful - my sisters were good too. To this day I'll tell expectant moms that I'll be more than happy to help, to answer questions, etc. I've helped a few young moms - my SIL, her friend, a neighbor, my niece, etc. See if you can find someone to help you or just answer questions.

3rd - most moms have a toddler or preschooler around when they have their second baby - and they nurse when the toddler is running around the house. I found that my older child would often cuddle up to me and baby brother when I nursed him. It wasn't a bad thing - it's very natural and she could understand what mommy was doing to feed the baby. The pump may be odd for your toddler... Once I was successfully nursing the baby I could figure out the pump - but I could imagine that I wouldn't have had much success pumping without having first learned how to nurse with a baby instead of a pump.

The big secret to nursing is to relax. When baby gets latched on (and babies have to learn too) the first few days you can feel your body all tensed up. You have to consciously relax - start at the top of your head and work your way down through your neck, shoulders, etc. Your milk will "let down" and baby will have a full supply!

For the milk I pumped I would freeze it and the babysitter would defrost it in a glass of tepid water, then heat it. Keep in mind though, that since your milk is not pasturized it can only be frozen and then heated ONCE. It spoils quickly if not frozen, or if you heat it a second time. It actually taste sour it you do that - so don't!

Finally - if nursing and pumping don't work out don't make yourself crazy. Formula is a fine alternative. We live in the 21s century and we have options. If the nursing and/or pumping works well then that's great - but a stressed mom with breastmilk may not be a better than a calm mom with formula! Allow yourself to not be perfect - it's good training for when they're teens!

I BFed for one year. Did the occasional bottle, but to answer some of your questions:

Get an electronic double breastpump. Put two boobs to pump at the same and it'll go quick. Your toddler may have to find an activity to do within your eyesight while you pump (a tv-show, a special 'pumping' coloring book that he can color only when you're pumping, Meet the Sight Words dvd which my 2.5 yr old LOVES www.preschoolprepco.com...). I assume you'll pump as often as the baby is eating in order to keep up the supply. So at first, if baby's eating every two hours, you'll need to pump every two hours. As for storage - I bought storage bags and froze milk that I wasn't going to use within 3 days. I don't remember the rules of how long refridgerated milk lasts, but you can Google it. Always keep a bottle or two ready to go. The fat will settle on top, so you'll need to shake the milk well when heating it. Remember to NOT put breastmilk in the microwave.

When I was pregnant, a coworker told me to give it a go for at least 3 months and after that if it was still painful or uncomfortable, at least I tried for 3 months which is better than nothing. I did find that it was uncomfortable for about 2 or 3 months surprisingly. It took 3 months to get the hang of it all and to get used to it and get into a routine about it all. So don't give up even if it is painful at first. Get lanolin to rub on your nipples. Best of luck. Congrats on your soon-to-be new bundle of joy.

I almost had to do this as I had an abcess in my right breast with my first son and was afraid to nurse my son with a gaping hole (sorry, TMI). Anyhow, I worked through it because I knew it would be hard to pump all the time. I would suggest thinking positively about it. You never know, this experience could be so much better than the first. Try nursing him until your milk comes in (it's VERY hard to pump colustrum- better for the baby to nurse it- there's just so little of it). Also, if you are worried about pain, try using a nipple shield. My first and second did not latch well as newborns, but the shield helped them. It also really cut down on the pain factor. When my 2nd was 4 months old, I weaned him off of it. With my first, we used the shield the full 26 months I nursed him. You can find a way to nurse your baby. It is SOOO much more convenient! It's always ready and always available. Get yourself in touch with a good lactation consultant NOW, to get some help and support for when baby comes. You know we will all be here to support you too. :)

Good luck and think positive!!!!
T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com

In my personal experience pumping was much harder for me than breast feeding and I never got as much when pumping. I also found that the pain was not as bad the second time around for everything. My girls are 3 yrs apart.

Both my girls were breast fed and had formula as well. After the first 2 weeks, I would feed at about 8 pm, pump at 9:30 ish and then let my husband give the bottle at the 11:00 feeding. I would go to sleep after I pumped and my husband would put our daughter in the basinette when he came to bed. This allowed me to catch a few extra hours of sleep and worked well both times around. It also allowed my husband to bond with our daughters early on. In the bottle was either breast milk or formula depending on how the pumping went.

I am not an expert, but found that the more I tried to make things worked, the less they did work! I was much more relaxed the second time around and everything went smoother and easier. Good luck!

I did, because my son couldnt latch on. Invest in a good breastpump, I had a manuel one and it was such a pain in the butt. A dual would be perfect, because while your pumping one breast, the other one is leaking liquid gold. I plan on breastfeeding my baby as long as its convient and it works out, but want to pump for a year to avoid formula. My friend is giving me her $300 Medela pump, I just have to buy replacement tubes for it which you can buy online. Being able to easily pump would take a huge stress off things if your baby doesnt take to the breast like mine did. My sister in law never even planned on trying to breastfeed and has been sucessfully pumping and giving breastmilk. With all the formula recalls it would really put your mind at ease if it works out. Good luck, you can do it.

I would encourage you to try breast feeding again. Every time it is different. But pumping is good. I didn't pump much with my kids, but you do need a really good pump. At first you need to pump a lot to get you supply up and from what I understand you would need to pump every time you child eats to get a good schedule and supply. Storing it is pretty easy as is thawing and warming. You might want to talk to a lactation consultant for some advice. See if your hospital has one or check with La Leche League. Good luck with you new little one.

I exclusively breastfed my oldest and exclusively pumped for my 2nd (he has a heart defect and was on a feeding tube). I am currently breastfeeding and pumping for my 3rd. I like pumping because I feel like I can pump on my schedule and feed him on his. I was able to store quite a bit during the first month because I was pumping more than he was eating. I rented a Medela Symphony pump from the hospital. It's a fantastic pump worth $1200. I pay about $40/month to rent it.

Pumping was a lot harder on me than just breast feeding.It always took longer than just putting baby at the breast.
If you get past the first few months you've gone through the hard part.
Just stick with it , it will hurt but tough it out it's so worth it.

with your toddler , give them something to occupy him/her even if it's putting their favorite show on tv.

If you cannot breastfeed, exclusive pumping is the best option in my opinion. However, I would strongly recommend breastfeeding if at all possible! I pump a couple times a day so my baby can get just one bottle a day, and I dislike it; I believe it would be worse with a toddler. You need to set aside time to pump, to wash pump and bottle parts and to bottlefeed. It takes me 3-4 times as long as simply putting the baby to the breast (my baby is a very efficient nurser, so nursing for us takes just 5-10 mins). That time is absolutely worth it because breastmilk is SO valuable and significantly helps both the baby's and mom's health, but my preference would be to breastfeed.

If you pump exclusively, you should pump every time the baby eats to signal your body to produce milk at those times. Once your milk supply is regulated (I believe around 3 mos), you will probably be able to trim down the number of pumping sessions, but before that, I wouldn't to avoid decreasing your milk supply. I store milk in the fridge in the bottles that came with my medela pump in style OR in lansinoh storage bags in the freezer (breastmilk is good for about a week in the fridge or 3-4 mos in freezer). I thaw frozen in milk in hot water, which is the same way I warm refrigerated milk.

Breastfeeding may be natural, but it is often difficult at first. My advice would be -- don't give up! The first couple of weeks are typically painful and stressful (trying to get the baby to latch properly and all), but I found after that it became SO much easier! Often it just "clicks" on day. After the first week or so, my baby latched well, ate well, it was super convenient (never have to wash bottles, make sure to pack formula when we go out, no making bottles in the middle of the night -- just pop the baby on the breast, and am back asleep in bed within about 10 mins). If you're having difficulty, I strongly recommend seeing a lactation consultant -- they are incredibly helpful in teaching you and the baby to breastfeed well and painlessly. Typically, breastfeeding is uncomfortable and/or modestly painful for the first week or two, but should become essentially painless after that. If you're finding it truly painful, that usually means something is wrong -- the baby has a bad latch or you have something like thrush or mastitis.

Of course, if you decide you cannot breastfeed, pumping is a great option. The Medela Freestyle pump is tiny, and if you get a pump bustier, you can walk around pumping hands-free while you chase after your toddler (that would make it MUCH more convenient than mine is, since I have to sit in one place while I pump). As much as I am a breastfeeding advocate, formula is also a good option ... so don't stress yourself out completely over breastfeeding. If worse comes to worst, you know you can always feed your baby with formula, and that will be okay too.

Congratulations and good luck!

I was set, determined to breastfeed our second son...and an Amish friend (who had a few children already), told me that the first 6 weeks are the most difficult and it will pass. It's best to just keep trying and make sure you have correct positioning. She also said that the nipples need to toughen up....it's all part of getting used to, and learning of how to breastfeed, for you and your child.

best to you and your child =)

I fed my DD expressed milk for about 2 months exclusively... It was really a pain in the butt... but to answer your questions...

I had to pump in the hospital because of some medications I was on (I wasn't able to hold her well) and she had jaundice, so they didn't want her out of the lights for more than 5 minutes at a time; She was taking at least 45 minutes to nurse, so I had to let hubby give her some bottle. The colostrum would only pump enough to coat the bottom of those skinny bottles they give you at the hospital... I thought it wasn't even worth keeping but the nurses said it didn't take much to fill her up. My milk came in just fine! I pumped and nursed for a while, but she was taking SOOO long to nurse, and we were having a lot of latching issues, so eventually I switched to exclusively pumping. I pumped every time I fed her... So I would give her a bottle of expressed milk, then when she was done, I would pump and put that in the fridge for her next feeding. I got so that I was pumping more than she was eating, so I started dividing up what I pumped and when I got an extra 6oz I would freeze it. (6oz because that's how much the storage bags held... you could do less if you wanted) While she is still young, she will be eating every 2-3 hours, so you don't even have to refrigerate if it will be a pain to re-heat... it's good at room temperature for about 5-8 hours after pumping. My DD refused to drink it cold, and preferred it warmer than room temp, so I got a bottle warmer... if you go that route make sure you get one that's approved for use with breast milk. (I don't know why, but I guess you aren't supposed to use certain heating methods with breast milk...) As I mentioned before, I was pumping WAY more than she was eating, because I pumped until I was completely 'empty' every time, about 4-6 oz each side at one point, and she was only eating 3-5 at each meal. The biggest thing that helped me was to make sure that I hand-expressed a little breast milk before pumping, and rubbing it on my nipples a little bit for lubrication... exclusively pumping starts to chafe after a while!!! Rub more breast milk in after pumping, and let it air dry for a few minutes too... that will help a lot to keep it from getting painful. After exclusively pumping for about 2 months straight, I decided to start putting her to breast again, and it was only about 2-3 days until she was nursing in full force! She latched on perfectly, and didn't have that 'laziness' about going from bottle to breast that some babies get. Plus, she went from being a lazy eater to a power eater and only takes 5 minutes total to fill up... 10 if she's sleepy or lazy. Now I only pump if I KNOW I'm not going to be somewhere I can easily nurse her.

Hi B.,

I did this with my first child because we had latching issues. He would not grab onto the nipple, so I just started pumping. I pumped every time he woke up for a feeding, and that was a natural schedule, which allowed me to pump enough milk. The thing that I didn't like though, was that I was a breast feeding mom, doing more work than a formula feeder. I would get up with the baby, warm a bottle up, feed, change, get him back to sleep, then go pump. Sometimes it would take a long time to pump, and there were many times that I would just be falling back into bed, and the baby would be waking up again. It was exhausting! Transporting the milk was an even bigger pain. I had to make sure I had plenty of cold packs, and enough milk to go with us, because he absolutely refused to latch on. This went on until he was 3 months old. One day, I was at my pediatrician's office, and I was crying out of frustration. I JUST WANTED MY BABY TO LATCH ON!!!
He laughed and told me that the only way to get him to take the breast was to take the bottle away. I was so afraid! I didn't want my baby to starve! About a week later, I had to take a trip out of town, and I decided that I was not going to take any bottles or milk. Just my boobs and my baby! He finally latched on, that day, and I was so happy! After that, he never had a problem. Only in weaning. He was in love with my breasts! I finally got him weaned at 16 months. BTW---I never had to freeze and thaw milk. I was able to keep just enough to keep in the fridge to use as I needed it. I would like to remind you that this will be your second time around, and my second time was not nearly as confusing as my first experience was. I was more experienced, and you will be too. The best advice I can give you is just don't give up unless you know that you've honestly given it everything. Breast feeding was always so rewarding for me. I loved the exclusive bond that I had with my children. Good luck with your little bundle!

K.

I have a 5yr old a 1yr old and now a 5 week old and i pump all day every 2hrs ( i have a low supply) and just breastfeed at night and i have done both nurse and pump and let me tell ya with another lil one running around pumping for 20 min is managable where as breastfeeding for 30-40 min whenever the baby wants was such a challenge not imposible tho but hard. i say try nursing first (nipple shields are awesome for the pain) and if that doesnt work then pump it works for me you just have to figure out what works and pumping is just as good as nursing and i find that nursing at night still gives me that bonding time good luck :)

I tried a lot of pumps, but got only a suitable supply from the kind they have in the hospital - you can rent those. Also, you can have a lactation consultant come to your hospital room to put the baby on - it is really hard and takes most women 4 weeks to get the hang of breastfeeding. I also found that if I was stressed out, my letdown of milk didn't happen - even for my second when I knew how to breastfeed and knew there was a ton of milk in there! What really worked for me (when I was pumping) was to imagine my baby, how much I loved her, how great nursing was, etc. Seriously! Ha!

Susan T. said everything very well......wish I could send 20 flowers!! lol

I was a breastfedding peer counselor b/c of the pain and discomfort I experienced adn hoped to help others avoid. So I know the pain, the blood, the yeast infections etc. Even with all that I would suggest you try to breastfeed. Get your breastfeeding team together before you deliver. i don't know where you are but if you're in NYC Beverly Solow and Betina Grigorio are great breastfeeding consultants. try la leche League and look for support in your area and attend some of their meeting -- you can take the 2 yr old. check out the link to find a group meeting in your area.
http://www.llli.org/resources.html

Consultants some time take insurance and sometimes don't. another alternative would be to contact your local WIC office and ask to speak with the breastfeeding consultant there and tell her your concerns and see if she can meet you in the hospital and then at home to help you get breastfeeding off to a good start.

Also if you find you might need help at home to help you with household duties check out Dona.org and look for a postpartum doula that might bebable to come in and help you manage for a few weeks. Please note many owmne that are trying to acquire their qualificiation as a postpartum have to volunteer to acquire the first few hours. So you may be able to post adn gt someone for free to offer you the assistance you need.

much luck to you!
S.

I had a tough time breastfeeding my first, but my 2nd was a natural. He latched right on immediately (and the nipple pain was much shorter). I found it so... much easier to nurse the 2nd because he could eat while the oldest and I played & the oldest didn't have to wait for me to pump or make bottles, etc.
I'd say give it a try and see how it goes. It really is a lot easier.
You would pump as often as he would eat, and likely just store it in the fridge - he would likely eat whatever amount you pumped. Does your hospital or pediatrician have a lactation consultant? You could give them a call. Le Leche League can also answer these questions.

The place where you give birth will probably have a lactation consultant available to coach/guide you to get a good start. AND, if you like, you can call La Leche League for encouragement and advice.
If you get a good latch early on, you should be able to avoid problems and discomfort. Pumping should be secondary to feeding baby directly.
Good luck.

I pumped with my second because he was in the hospital for a week after birth. He was given breastmilk mixed with formula because I couldn't pump enough for him. I was under much stress. After we got him home, I continued to pump and give him half formula and half breastmilk. I had a 3 year old at the time so pumping was difficult. I only pumped in the morning when my husband was home, early afternoon when my 3 year old was asleep and at night when my husband returned from work. Obviously, not enough pumping to only give breastmilk to my baby, but I was fine with that because I was too exhausted to get up at night and pump after having such a rocky beginning with my son. I only did this for about 5 weeks. I just got tired of having to stop and pump when there were so many other things I needed to do. I'm glad my child got 5 weeks of breastmilk , but don't regret stopping either.

Breastfeeding isn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's far from the hardest thing a Mother will do in her lifetime. You need to seek an IBCLC, because they are rigorously trained and have a BA in Human Lactation and Psychology. LCs and CLCs can literally take a week long workshop and call themselves helpful after passing a test. Not all workshops are created equal.

You also need to keep in mind, YOU have to put some work into it too and listen to those who've had successful experiences with nursing and who are educated in the art of helping and observing. Sometimes it's as simple as a bad latch that you cannot tell because you would not allow a IBCLC to observe the latch on.

Pumping is an extreme pain - especially if that is the sole way you plan on feeding your infant breastmilk. It doesn't have to be painful or difficult to give breastmilk from the direct source. I would still pump and store milk for emergencies, away from anyplace comfortable for long periods of time, or date nights.

Please don't feel like you cannot ask for help - there are TONS of resources for Mothers now who need help to breastfeed. You are not alone!